Clinical Evaluation of Acute Rhinogenic Visual Disturbances

Abstract

Objective: To Analyze the time to treatment and visual prognosis of patients who presented with visual disturbance caused by sinus disease. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the post-surgery clinical course and visual acuity of 23 patients (24 sides) with rhinogenic visual disturbances from Dokkyo Medical University, Tochigi, Japan. Sinus diseases were classified into three groups: infection/inflammation (7 patients), mucocele (8 patients [9 sides]), and tumor (8 patients). Results: Most patients (68%) were first admitted to the ophthalmology department and then referred to us. Patients with eye pain and ocular swelling were examined before those without symptoms (p < 0.05). In particular, the infection/inflammation group was more likely to present with symptoms other than vision loss and thus visit the rhinologists earlier. The infection/inflammation and mucocele groups showed improvement in visual acuity after surgery (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Early consultation and surgical treatment were shown to be effective in the infection/inflammation and mucocele groups. For early rhinologist consultation, imaging studies should be performed for accurate diagnosis. Patients should be educated about the disease and encouraged to seek correct medical attention as early as possible.